Meet Your Reps: Mike Blunn

Mike Blunn

What inspired you to take this course and career path?I find my strengths to be working with other people to resolve problems as a team. I am interested in the Human Resources side of business as I believe I am a good people person.

Why did you decide to become a Student Rep?A good leader would never ask someone to do something they wouldn’t do themselves. I couldn’t put anyone forward if I wasn’t prepared to do it myself, and so I volunteered where others wouldn’t.

What changes do you hope to achieve as a Rep this semester?As an international student, I have found information difficult to find sometimes. So a change I would like to happen would be to review why there is a lack of communication between students and the UNITEC team. Apart from the discover NZ trips, I also believe that UNITEC is not offering opportunities for students and staff to socialise and get to know each other more. I am hoping to put suggestions forward on larger scale activities so that students can socialise better together.

As an international student, I have found information difficult to find sometimes. […] I am hoping to put suggestions forward on larger scale activities so that students can socialise better together.

If you have to bake or cook for others, what is your ‘signature dish’?Victoria Sponge

Where is your hometown and what is the best thing about it?My town is a small village called Cofton Hackett which is on the county border of Worcestershire and Birmingham in England. The best thing about it is its history and the mass amount of influence it has had on the world. Creating the industrial revolution or Shakespeare, Tolkien, C.S Lewis and a lot of Castles.

If you could travel anywhere, where would it be?New Zealand

What is the book or movie that has influenced you the most and why?The Lord of the Rings. When I was younger, I was very sick and spent a lot of time in hospital beds. A way in which I coped with this was to imagine I was somewhere else. At the time, I was given the LOTR films and later the books which helped me with my time in hospital.

What was your first job (or if you haven’t had a job, your first big responsibility)?The first job I had was as a waiter. My main responsibilities were helping present and deliver food from the kitchen to the customer in a professional manner which required me to have a good understanding of business appearance. I also had to deal with any complaints or requests made by customers, answer any questions they had about the food, service or the business. This led to me having good interpersonal skills and being able to work under pressure. Being able to serve food, maintain the appearance of the businesses and talk to customers required me to be able to multi-task effectively and efficiently.

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?I hope that I have travelled and seen the things I wanted to see. I hope to be on my way to a high-level career job, and I hope to be surrounded by my friends, loved ones and lots of dogs.